I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 17

Clink.

Every time the sharp sound rang out, beautiful flower blossoms fell to the ground from their branches. The rose garden in front of the princess’s palace was widely known as a place that Eileen personally tended to and cared for.

As the princess was furiously taking out her anger on the flowers, the head maid came out from the palace.

“Your Highness. The ladies have come to see you.”

The gentle Kate, the head maid, paused. Piled high behind the princess were heaps of roses, and the flower trees were left with only bare branches.

“I wanted to personally tend to these roses to give to the guests at the next party.”

As the princess smiled brightly and spoke, a smile finally returned to the head maid’s face.

“As expected, Your Highness is like an angel.”

The princess waved her hand as if she were shy, then asked in an excited tone, “Is Bianchi here, too?”

“Yes. Lady Weiss is also waiting.”

“Tell them I’ll be there soon, and to wait for me.”

As the head maid retreated, the princess looked around. The once-beautiful garden was now desolate, with only piles of flowers remaining.

Even though it looked unsightly, it didn’t matter since she could just pull them all out and replant them. The flowers themselves were of no consequence, but you had to have flowers to be able to break them.

She still had many cards she could use. The princess threw down the shears and entered the palace.

“Lian!”

Blaine, who had entered the room without knocking, stopped. Lian looked like he had just finished bathing, with wet hair and only a robe on. Through the open robe, his well-trained body was revealed, and his hair was still damp.

‘He really looks like he’s trying to captivate people.’

Even though he saw Lian’s face every day and was used to it, seeing him like this made Blaine understand a little bit why women liked such a “rock-like guy.”

“Going somewhere?”

“I have a place to go.”

Lian answered briefly, then asked, “Why are you looking for me?”

At that question, Blaine remembered the reason he had come.

“Oh, right. Your subordinate came to see you.”

A subordinate coming to see him wasn’t a big deal, but Blaine’s voice was a bit excited. Even he, who considered himself Lian’s only friend, rarely saw the armor of this knighthood.

The Knights Who Walk in the Dark, the Behind-Knights.

They were the knights of the Calabria ducal family, who had maintained their position as the greatest martial family for over 500 years in the strongest nation in the world, the Haskator Empire. They were famous for being an elite group with a higher quality than even the Imperial Knights, but they were largely unknown to the public because they rarely engaged in external activities and focused solely on training their martial arts.

When Lian and Blane went out to the drawing room, Lian’s subordinate bowed with a precise motion.

“I greet the Commander of the Knights.”

“What is the matter?”

“I came to report something.”

It would have been polite to leave the room, but Blaine was curious about the content, so he used his authority as the host of the house and discreetly stayed behind Lian. Lian didn’t seem to mind and let the report proceed.

“Duke Calabria has ordered the Behind-Knights to completely vacate the training grounds and townhouses on the duchy’s territory.”

“Is that true?” Blaine was so surprised that he asked back without thinking.

“Yes. He said to empty the knight’s quarters immediately.”

At the subordinate’s answer, Blaine’s jaw dropped. “No, what kind of a person kicks his own family’s knighthood out of their territory?”

“Officially, since I inherited it, the Behind-Knights belong to the count’s family, not the Calabria ducal family.” Lian answered calmly.

Seeing him surprisingly unfazed, Blaine tilted his head and asked, “Did you inherit anything else from the Calabria ducal family beforehand?”

However, Lian shook his head. In fact, since Lian had only recently become an adult, it was a great achievement just to have inherited a knighthood that was stronger than the entire military of most nations.

“Then what are you going to do? Even if they’re a small, elite group, there must be hundreds of them. Where are you going to take a knighthood of that size right now?”

The Calabria county was a distant place, a journey of several days across a mountain range. Lian was the person who was going to inherit the Calabria ducal family’s castle, the second largest building in the capital after the Imperial Palace, so he didn’t have another residence. Blaine’s own residence, being that of a viscount, was also not large enough to accommodate them.

“Should we prepare to move to La Floyd?”

At the subordinate’s words, Lian shook his head again.

“It would be rude to take a knighthood that officially belongs to a different family to my mother’s duchy.”

“That’s true, but you don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“No, the Behind-Knights must stay in the capital.”

Lian’s stubbornness was understandable. The Behind-Knights were the greatest power he had. Even if La Floyd was close, it was outside the capital city and would take half a day to get there. Sending them that far would surely reduce Lian’s influence significantly.

‘But is there space in the capital to accommodate them all?’

Pellicity was a city grappling with overpopulation. Furthermore, land prices were so high that it was said you could buy an entire other country if you sold Pellicity. Even if there was a place, getting it would be as difficult as ‘plucking a star from the sky.’

“I will find a new location and contact you, so for now, ignore the order and continue with your training.”

“Yes, Commander.”

The subordinate, upon hearing Rian’s answer, responded and promptly left. As he disappeared, Blane sighed.

“It’s an order to vacate immediately. Do you think the Duke will just stand by and watch?”

“As long as they want to stay, that place will continue to be the Behind-Knights’ base.”

Lian’s voice was full of certainty. After all, if the world’s most elite knighthood held its ground, there would be no way to drive them out without a war.

“But you can’t hold out forever. Even if you occupy the quarters and training grounds, what if the food and salary support are cut off?”

Maintaining a knighthood of that caliber required a huge amount of money. The scale was not something that Rian’s territory, as a mere count and commander of the Imperial Knights, could handle. They could take things by force, but then they would just be a bandit group.

The skilled individuals who could become official Imperial Knights were satisfied with the Behind-Knights not only because of the world-class treatment but also because of the honor of being the Empire’s most elite who pursued only pure martial arts. The knights would not accept losing their pride and falling into degradation.

“They will receive the same treatment as before.”

Lian answered calmly and stood up from his seat.

“Why are you getting up?”

“I told you I was going out.”

Going out in such an emergency? While Blane was dumbfounded, Lian put on a hood and a cloak.

“Where are you going? I’ll go with you.”

“It’s a long way, so I’ll go alone. I’ll be late, so don’t wait up.”

Lian cut him off before Blane could finish his sentence and left the residence.

‘Where in the world is he going without even saying?’

His outing wasn’t something he should interfere with, but it bothered him greatly. There was only one place he would go where he would have to leave Blaine behind.

‘Don’t tell me he’s going to see that widow?’

If he was enjoying a secret rendezvous even in this tight situation, it would be truly frustrating. He couldn’t just stand by. Blaine restlessly paced the room and picked up an invitation.

Lady Litrael

He remembered hearing that Lady Eleanor was recently staying at this residence. It seemed there was a party every night during the birthday celebration.

‘Surely, he won’t show up there.’

No matter how thoughtless he was, he wouldn’t do that, but Blaine was still worried. People blinded by love often did foolish things.

After a moment of thought, Blaine decided to go to Lady Litrael’s party, figuring there was nothing to lose since he had nothing else to do anyway. If Lian didn’t show up, he wanted to meet Lady Eleanor and have a word with her.

‘I’ll tell her to definitively break things off with Lian.’

If she just refused him properly, Lian might give up and come home. Later, Lian would probably want to kill him if he found out, but like the good friend he was, Blaine couldn’t rest until he put his decision into action.

Having made up his mind, he left the study to get ready for the party.

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